Is there a sauna in Bellingham, Washington?

There is now — and it floats. Coho Saunas is a cedar-lined floating sauna on Bellingham Bay, docked at Hotel Bellwether on Bellingham's downtown waterfront. About ninety minutes north of Seattle and an hour south of Vancouver, BC. Book a communal spot or take the whole boat private.

Swimsuit, sandals, a robe if you want one. We've got towels and water onboard. No glass on the boat, please. There are no lockers on the dock yet — leave valuables in your car or at the hotel front desk. Down the road we'll carry our own robes and hats; not yet.

What's the sauna like?

A propane-heated, cedar-lined floating sauna anchored on Bellingham Bay. Six guests maximum. Heated to 175–190°F. Western red cedar walls. We chose propane over wood for cleaner combustion, quieter sessions, and consistent heat between bookings. Splash water on the rocks for steam.

How do sessions work?

Two ways to enjoy Coho Saunas: 75-minute dockside sessions at Hotel Bellwether or 2.5-hour cruises on Bellingham Bay. Both offer private and communal options for up to six guests. Enjoy the heat, cool off on deck or in the water, and take in the views. Docked sessions run daily from 8:00 AM into the evening. Please arrive 10 minutes before your session.

Between heat cycles you'll step out onto the deck — cool salt air, the outdoor rain shower, the bay breeze. That contrast is what resets you.

Docked sessions (75 min) — Communal $55 per person · Private $255 for the boat. Wednesday Wind Down: communal docked sessions are $45. Bay cruises (2.5 hours) — Communal $120 per person · Private $750 for the boat. Looking for a custom charter, partner event, or sunrise trip? Write us at cohosaunas@icloud.com. Hotel Bellwether guests book docked sessions through the front desk.

What happens in bad weather?

We sail rain or shine — this is the Pacific Northwest. Sessions only cancel for lightning, sustained high wind, or unsafe water conditions. If we cancel, you'll get a full refund or reschedule.

Who runs the boat? Is it safe?

Every bay trip is run by a US Coast Guard–licensed captain. The boat carries all required safety equipment — life jackets, communications, and throwables — and we follow strict weather thresholds before departure.

What's the cancellation policy?

Full refund up to 36 hours before your booking — every session type, docked or out on the bay, communal or private. Anything inside 36 hours is non-refundable.

Is the sauna accessible?

The boat is reached by a dock ramp; the sauna entry has one step. Write us before booking if you have specific needs and we'll figure it out.

What are the house rules?

Swimsuits in the sauna. No alcohol during sessions. No soap or product in the outdoor shower — the water rinses straight back to the bay. Eighteen and up on shared sessions. Younger guests are welcome on private bookings (the whole boat is yours). Voices low: someone next to you came here to disconnect.

No bathroom on the boat. Use the Hotel Bellwether lobby restroom before your session — the dock is a one-minute walk from the front door.

How do I get there? Where do I park?

Bellingham Bay — the dock is at Hotel Bellwether on Bellingham's waterfront. Free guest parking at the hotel; street parking nearby.

Floating Sauna · Bellingham Bay, Washington

Steam. Sweat. Salt. Coho Saunas — a floating sauna on Bellingham Bay in Bellingham, Washington.

A floating sauna experience on Bellingham Bay.

Reserve a session

Sessions are open

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The Experience

Heat, cool, rest, repeat.

Start with heat. Step out into cool salt air. Rinse under the outdoor shower. Come back warmer, slower, lighter.

Two guests in the cedar sauna — one ladles water onto the stove while the other leans back on the lower bench

01 / Heat

Step into the sauna and let it build.

Cedar walls. Quiet light. The slow climb of temperature against your skin. Stay until the heat asks something of you.

A hand reaching into the outdoor shower spray, marina sailboats glowing behind

02 / Cool

A reset under cool salt air.

Out onto the deck. Under the outdoor shower. A few breaths that feel impossibly long, and the heat releases — sharper, clearer, awake.

Two guests unwinding on the rooftop deck lounge above the marina in evening sun

03 / Rest

Slow down. Breathe deeper. Stay longer.

Wrap in a towel. Watch the light move across the bay. Then back in for another round. Heat, cool, rest, repeat.

Two guests leaning back together on the cedar bench beside the sauna stove

75 minutes · at the dock

Sweat at the dock.

Step on at the Hotel Bellwether dock. Cedar walls, slow heat, cool salt air on deck between rounds. Seventy-five minutes before you walk back up the dock.

Duration: 75 min
Capacity: Up to 6 guests

The Drift's cedar lettering glowing along the hull at sunset, Bellingham Bay and the islands beyond

2.5 hours · out on the bay

A slow loop on the water.

Two and a half hours cruising Bellingham Bay. Mount Baker and the North Cascades on the horizon, the San Juan Islands at your fingertips. The longer trip — and the quieter one.

Duration: 2.5 hours
Capacity: Up to 6 guests

Gift cards

Give the experience.

Redeemable for any session — docked or out on the bay, communal or private. The simplest possible birthday, anniversary, or thank-you.

Buy a gift card

Custom trips

Looking for something else?

Private events, longer loops, sunrise charters, partner pop-ups — write us with what you have in mind and we'll see what we can put together.

Inquire within

Hotel Bellwether at golden hour with the Drift floating sauna docked on the water below

About

A small boat on a quiet bay.

“Built for small groups. Designed to disconnect you for a while.”

Coho Saunas is a Bellingham-born cedar sauna, built in town for the people who live by this bay. The vision was simple — a boat that connects people to the water, and the water to its people. Close to the bay, away from everything else.

Aboard

The black Drift sauna boat at the dock, guests on the rooftop deck above the cedar Drift lettering

The boat's helm silhouetted against the sun setting over the marina

Matte black kettle on the cedar tea counter in warm evening light

The full cedar sauna interior — stove at the far end, benches along one side, windows onto the bay

Waffle-knit towels rolled and stacked in a cedar cubby

Wooden lounge chair and potted plant on the rooftop deck, marina boats beyond the rail

Water poured from a wooden ladle over the hot sauna stones

Close-up of the sauna stones heaped in the Torch stove

A cup filling at the hot-water tap in the cedar-lined tea station

Photographs by Alex Moon

10 Hotel Saunas That Are Worth The Trip

“From a floating cedar boat in Washington to a Tokyo skyline perch…”

Our boat at Hotel Bellwether is one of ten picks worldwide, in the company of Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo, and Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve.

Read in Forbes

By Jesse Scott

Find us

Where the city ends and the bay begins.

We dock at Hotel Bellwether on Bellingham's downtown waterfront — five minutes from town, ninety minutes north of Seattle, an hour south of Vancouver, BC. Far enough from the noise to forget about it for a while.

Map showing Hotel Bellwether · 1 Bellwether Way, Bellingham, WA 98225

Departure dock Hotel Bellwether1 Bellwether WayBellingham, WA 98225 Get directions

There is now — and it floats. Coho Saunas is a cedar-lined floating sauna on Bellingham Bay, docked at Hotel Bellwether on Bellingham's downtown waterfront. About ninety minutes north of Seattle and an hour south of Vancouver, BC. Book a communal spot or take the whole boat private.
Swimsuit, sandals, a robe if you want one. We've got towels and water onboard.
No glass on the boat, please. There are no lockers on the dock yet — leave valuables in your car or at the hotel front desk. Down the road we'll carry our own robes and hats; not yet.
A propane-heated, cedar-lined floating sauna anchored on Bellingham Bay. Six guests maximum. Heated to 175–190°F.
Western red cedar walls. We chose propane over wood for cleaner combustion, quieter sessions, and consistent heat between bookings. Splash water on the rocks for steam.
Two ways to enjoy Coho Saunas: 75-minute dockside sessions at Hotel Bellwether or 2.5-hour cruises on Bellingham Bay.
Both offer private and communal options for up to six guests. Enjoy the heat, cool off on deck or in the water, and take in the views.
Docked sessions run daily from 8:00 AM into the evening. Please arrive 10 minutes before your session.
Between heat cycles you'll step out onto the deck — cool salt air, the outdoor rain shower, the bay breeze. That contrast is what resets you.
Docked sessions (75 min) — Communal $55 per person · Private $255 for the boat. Wednesday Wind Down: communal docked sessions are $45.
Bay cruises (2.5 hours) — Communal $120 per person · Private $750 for the boat.
Looking for a custom charter, partner event, or sunrise trip? Write us at cohosaunas@icloud.com.
Hotel Bellwether guests book docked sessions through the front desk.
Gift cards are redeemable for any session — docked or out on the bay, communal or private. Buy a gift card.
We sail rain or shine — this is the Pacific Northwest. Sessions only cancel for lightning, sustained high wind, or unsafe water conditions. If we cancel, you'll get a full refund or reschedule.
Every bay trip is run by a US Coast Guard–licensed captain. The boat carries all required safety equipment — life jackets, communications, and throwables — and we follow strict weather thresholds before departure.
Full refund up to 36 hours before your booking — every session type, docked or out on the bay, communal or private.
Anything inside 36 hours is non-refundable.
The boat is reached by a dock ramp; the sauna entry has one step. Write us before booking if you have specific needs and we'll figure it out.
Swimsuits in the sauna. No alcohol during sessions. No soap or product in the outdoor shower — the water rinses straight back to the bay.
Eighteen and up on shared sessions. Younger guests are welcome on private bookings (the whole boat is yours).
Voices low: someone next to you came here to disconnect.
No bathroom on the boat. Use the Hotel Bellwether lobby restroom before your session — the dock is a one-minute walk from the front door.
Bellingham Bay — the dock is at Hotel Bellwether on Bellingham's waterfront. Free guest parking at the hotel; street parking nearby.